Journal of Colloid and Interface Science最新文献

The exploration of high-performance and multifunctional catalysts is a key issue in Zinc-air/iodide hybrid battery (ZAIHB). In this study, iron‑cobalt dual atomic sites (DAS) embedded in a biomass-derived (N, P) heteroatom-codoped carbon nanobelt (NPCB) framework were designed as a multifunctional catalyst for ZAIHB. Theoretical analysis reveals that the structure matching on both dual-atomic-centers and local electronic engineering contribute to the promoted catalytic activities for oxygen and iodide redox reactions. In addition, the nitrogen (N)-, and phosphorus (P)-codoped carbon nanobelts contributed to the highly porous and freestanding substrate, which endowed rapid kinetics. Benefiting from the above advantageous features, FeCo DAS@NPCB exhibits the excellent multifunctional catalytic properties for oxygen/iodide redox reactions. The full ZAIHB battery with the FeCo DAS@NPCB cathode exhibited high energy efficiency (77.4 %) and a long cycle life (over 300 h). Moreover, the solid-state ZAIHB with a hydrogel electrolyte showed good flexibility and stability during charge/discharge cycling. More impressively, the cell shows high reliability during the transition from exposure to air to an oxygen free environment with the replacement of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) by iodide reduction reaction (IRR). This unique mechanism results in the high adaptability of the fabricated ZAIHB to serve multifarious working environments. Therefore, this study introduces a novel strategy for the design and construction of multifunctional catalysts, and promotes the rapid development of highly efficient ZAIHB for diverse electronics.

New-type and high-quality cathodes are of immense importance for the development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs). Herein, a core-shell structural iron-based metal organic framework (MIL-88) derived cathode (ZnFe₂O₄/Fe₃O₄/C@NC/Mo₂TiC₂T_x) with admirable specific capacity, rate performance, and cycling stability has been firstly designed and prepared. The in-situ adulterated Zn and loaded Mo₂TiC₂T_x MXene could effectively modulate the electron distribution, facilitating the electron transfer from Fe and Zn to O atoms, which dramatically decrease the adsorption Gibbs energy for charge carriers and improve the electrical conductivity, leading to fast electrochemical kinetics. Moreover, the structural and chemical stability of the composites could be greatly improved by integrating MIL-88 derived doped carbon, polydopamine derived N-doped carbon coating, and MXene substrate. In addition, the unique core-shell and two dimensional/three dimensional hierarchical structure could provide plentiful active sites and optimize the charge storage kinetics. The synthesized electrode exhibits more excellent specific capacity of 467.9 mAh·g^-1 than that of Fe₃O₄/C (143.5 mAh·g^-1), Fe₃O₄/C@NC (166.4 mAh·g^-1), and ZnFe₂O₄/Fe₃O₄/C@NC (225.6 mAh·g^-1), as well as eminent rate performance and cycling stability. Additionally, the improved electrochemical performance and charge storage mechanisms of the cathode are revealed by characterizations, theoretical calculations, and simulations. The high-quality cathode and its designed strategy proposed in this study would promote the development and commercialization of AZIBs.

Electronic skin (e-skin) faces challenges in achieving long-term signal stability and wearability due to the poor breathability, sweat accumulation, and limited sensitivity. This paper reports a multifunctional nanofibrous e-skin (PTZ-PPPB-PPT) fabricated via layer-by-layer electrospinning, integrating a hydrophobic layer (PVDF-TrFE/ZnO), a piezoelectric enhancement layer (PAN/PVP/PDA@BTO), and a thermochromic layer (PAN/PVP/TCM). Benefited from the asymmetric wettability and hierarchical fiber structure, the device enables unidirectional sweat transport (contact angle reduces from 132.8° to 0° within 5.72 s) while blocking reverse osmosis (hydrostatic resistance of 40 mmH₂O). When the piezoelectric sensor operates under excessive sweating conditions, the unidirectional sweat transport maintains skin surface dryness, thereby ensuring stable piezoelectric output during movement. Notably, the E-skin achieves a high output voltage (40 V at 30 N with a sensitivity of 0.825 V/N), exhibits rapid response/recovery (100/80 ms). It also demonstrates reversible thermochromism (25-40 °C) for real-time temperature visualization. Additionally, the device ensures superior comfort during prolonged wear by maintaining exceptional air permeability (8.05 mm/s) and outstanding mechanical flexibility (187.75 % elongation at break). This multifunctional integrated E-skin synergizes sweat management with temperature visualization, holding promising potential for applications in wearable healthcare, human-computer interaction, and dynamic environmental monitoring.

The structure and composition of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) exerts a significant influence on the fast-charging capability and stability of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, elucidating the design principles governing anode interfacial structures and revealing the kinetics and mechanisms of Li⁺ transport remain challenging. SEI layer. Herein, we present an efficient synthesis strategy for fabricating LIBs anodes consisting of silicon nanoparticles coated with a Li₃PO₄-modified carbon shell (Si@C@LPO). Through a combination of comprehensive experimental investigations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we elucidate the influence of SEI layer enriched with various inorganic components on Li⁺ transport. The high adsorption energy of the LiPO₄-enriched SEI enhances its affinity for Li⁺ during the cycling process and suppresses solvent decomposition at the anode interface, thereby improving both fast-charging performance and electrode stability. Consequently, the Si@C@LPO anode exhibit a specific capacity of 605.67 mAh g^-1 at 8 A g^-1 and significantly enhanced cycling durability with a higher capacity retention of 73.3 % after 100 cycles at 1 A g^-1. This strategy establishes a clear correlation among SEI components, Li⁺ transport kinetics, and the design of interfacial structures in high performance LIBs anode materials.

The development of efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is important in advancing sustainable energy technologies. This work introduces a phosphate ion modified Ni(OH)₂/Ni/MoO₂ (PNNM) composite, elaborately constructed by a one-pot electrodeposition method. The integration of heterostructure engineering and ion modification strategies significantly endows the composite with remarkable electrocatalytic performance. The prepared PNNM has excellent HER activity, with a low overpotential of 35 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 and a favorable Tafel slope of 59.5 mV dec^-1. Meanwhile, PNNM also possesses prominently long-term durability with the current density retention rate of 90.1 % after 240 h. In-situ Raman, electrochemical analysis, and theoretical calculation results reveal that the enhanced HER activity of PNNM results from the moderated hydrogen adsorption strength, robust water adsorption, and accelerated water dissociation process. This study highlights the potential of PNNM as a promising candidate for scalable alkaline hydrogen generation, offering significant advancements in renewable energy applications.

Building polymer heterojunctions (PHJs) is a promising way to enhance the performance of single-polymer photocatalysts, but it's still challenging to design the ideal structure with well-matched energy levels and strong interface synergy by precisely tuning the molecular structure of polymer. Herein, two triazine-based conjugated porous polymers (CPPs) were synthesized in advance including TB and TR via linkage unit modulation at the molecular level, and then their PHJs with carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) nanosheet including TB/CN and TR/CN were successfully constructed by the convenient physical ball milling method. Theoretical calculations, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and in situ X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra show that replacing thiophene rings in TR with phenyl rings in TB changes the PHJ structure from type-I (TR/CN) to an S-scheme (TB/CN) heterojunction. Compared to TR/CN, TB/CN exhibits a stronger internal electric field (IEF), better redox ability, longer exciton lifetime, and improved charge separation and transport. As a result, TB (Wang et al., 2023a (20))/CN achieves a much higher hydrogen evolution rate (HER) of 9.11 mmol g^-1 h^-1, which is 1.8 times of TR (Wang et al., 2023a (20))/CN and 6.6 times of pure g-C₃N₄. TB (Wang et al., 2023a (20))/CN also shows superior Cr(VI) reduction efficiency (98.5 % in 60 min), outperforming TR (Wang et al., 2023a (20))/CN (82.0 %) and g-C₃N₄ (21.8 %). This study shows that adjusting the linkage units can effectively tune the interface properties of PHJs, offering a promising strategy for designing efficient polymer-based photocatalysts.

Lithium-oxygen batteries are next-generation battery devices due to lightweight nature and high energy density with compared to conventional Li-ion batteries. These batteries consist a metal anode terminal and an oxygen diffused cathode terminal, in which oxygen is used as a reactant with metal atoms from surrounding air. Nonetheless, these systems facing the problems related to sluggish kinetics and higher overpotential due to formation of insoluble products at negative electrode during redox reaction. To address these major issues, the requirement of catalyst materials is raised to enhance the battery performance. Keep this in mind, we have investigated the potential of CrX₂ (X = S, Se and Te) monolayer (ML) as a catalyst material for LiO₂ batteries. Here, we systematically examined the stability and electronic properties of CrX₂ ML using density functional theory (DFT) approach. For the dynamical and thermal stabilities, the phonon dispersion curves and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation were performed. All three materials exhibit outstanding conductivity and are energetically favourable for adsorption of Li atoms and O₂ molecules. The initial nucleation process in all materials begins with the adsorption of Li metal and follows *Li➔*LiO₂ path. Further, analysis the adsorption behaviour, structural geometries and charge distribution of Li_xO_2y reaction intermediates during oxygen reduction reaction mechanism, show that CrX₂ MLs follows four electron pathways, resulting in 2(Li₂O) as the final discharge product. Additionally, we have investigated the free energy for corresponding intermediates involved in both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) process. The calculated ORR and OER overpotentials are notably low: CrS₂ (0.27 V and 0.71 V), CrSe₂ (0.22 V and 0.71 V) and CrTe₂ (0.17 V and 0.33 V). Our results shows that CrX₂ MLs are serve as high performance catalyst materials to expedite the catalytic activities for LiO₂ battery systems.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as a promising energy storage system due to their inherent safety, cost-effectiveness, large power density, and environmental sustainability. However, the widespread adoption of AZIBs is impeded by critical challenges associated with zinc anodes, including uncontrolled dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution, and corrosion, as well as the reliance on thick separators that reduce the battery's energy density. To overcome these limitations, this study introduces a separator-free AZIB design featuring a multifunctional protective coating composed of zinc monofluorophosphate and nanocellulose on the Zn electrode. The hybrid coating with a low thickness of 15 μm serves a dual purpose, not only mitigating dendrite formation and parasitic reactions but also eliminating the need for conventional separators. The electrochemical characterization reveals that the hybrid coating enables superior corrosion resistance, extended electrochemical stability window, improved Zn²⁺ ion transport, facilitated desolvation process, lowered overpotential, and uniformized Zn deposition. Thanks to these benefits, the Zn//Zn cell offers a long life span up to 1200 h at 10 mA cm^-2 and 2 mAh cm^-2, and the full battery delivers great rate capability and cycling stability even under a low negative-to-positive capacity ratio. This work provides an appropriate solution to the development of high-energy-density and durable AZIBs.

The surface of photocatalysts plays a key role in the adsorption and activation of CO₂ molecules. Establishing the conformational relationship between the crystalline phase of the photocatalysts and the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) activity is crucial to understanding the catalytic reaction mechanism. Herein, we synthesized CdS catalysts with different exposed crystalline facets (CdS[100], CdS[001], and CdS[111]) using hydrothermal and water bath methods and evaluated their photocatalytic CO₂RR performances. The results showed that CdS[001] displayed an optimal activity with a 203.2 μmol g^-1 h^-1 of CO generation rate compared with CdS[100] and CdS[111]. More importantly, the CdS[001] catalyst shows the best CO selectivity (S_CO: ∼86.6 %) and CO₂ reduction selectivity (S_CO2: ∼95.4 %) compared with CdS[100] (S_CO: 79.3 %; S_CO2: 90.0 %) and CdS[111] (S_CO: 79.6 %; S_CO2: 82.8 %). The optimal CdS[001] catalyst significantly inhibited the competing hydrogen evolution reaction. The adsorption and activation behaviors of CO₂ on various exposed surfaces of CdS are explored in depth based on density functional theory calculations and in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectra measurements. This work provides new insights into understanding the role of facet control in enhancing photocatalytic CO₂ conversion.